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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Blog Tour Review &
Giveaway

Beautiful
Failure
by

Mariah Cole

Genre: New Adult Romance Release Date:December 12, 2013

~ Synopsis ~

If you're looking for a
heartwarming story about a girl who falls deeply in love with a troubled boy
who changes her life— a sob story with pretty metaphors and a
million ways that'll tell you how "broken" she is, STOP. Don't read
another word of this.

I'm not that type of girl.

My name is Emerald Anderson
and I'm not going to bullshit you: I flunked out of college after my sophomore
year, I've been fired from every job I've ever taken, and I've never had a
fully functioning relationship in my life.

I wish I could say that I
had a cheerleader in my corner, someone who says, "No, Emerald—You're
great and you are good at something!" but I don't. My
grandparents are completely oblivious to my life, and my mother's dying words
to me were "You're going to end up just like me one day. A beautiful
nothing."

She was right.

As I decide to start my
life over and take two jobs that will forever change me--one from the inside,
and one from the outside, I keep my mother's words close to my heart so I can
keep the sexy and mysterious Carter Black away.

He's the first man who's
ever pursued me, the first man who seems bent on finding out why I am the way I
am, but he's wasting his time.

I'm not broken. I don't need to be fixed. I'm perfectly fine being
a beautiful failure.

“You have a very beautiful name, Emerald.” Carter
sits down again and hands me two brownies.

“Thank you.”

“I take it that buying you brownies doesn’t make me
any less of a stranger?”

“Excellent guess.”

“Hmmm.” He watches me take small bites. “Do you like
your job here?”

“No.”

“That’s good. I don’t think customer service is for
you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Someone like you should never be allowed to work
directly with people—or any breathing organisms for that matter.” He’s
grinning, and I want to laugh but I keep it inside. “How old are you?” His
voice is serious all of a sudden.

“How old do you want me to be?”

“Legal.”

“Do I look like a
minor?”

“No, but it’s always good to double check.”

“Young girls have been a problem for you in the
past?”

He laughs. “You have a very smart mouth.”

“Pay me enough and I’ll show you what I can really
do with it.”

He raises his eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

I don’t back down. That’s one of Leah’s old lines—it
used to net her an easy four hundred bucks, and I’ve often wondered what would
happen if I ever used it.

“Are you propositioning me to pay you for a blowjob?”

“Is that what it sounds like?”

“It does.” He smirks. “It also sounds like you’re
full of it.”

I blink, and then I burst into laughter. “It was a
joke.”

“So you are a
child?”

I roll my eyes and stand up. “Whatever. Enjoy your
coffee.” I walk away without letting him get another word out.

Sexy as hell or not, I don’t need an unnecessary
distraction; I need to focus on getting out of this city.

~ Deleted Scene ~

(A Flashback)

“Em! Em!” Leah walks through the front door with
shopping bags dangling from her wrists.

“Yeah?” I hold the phone against my neck. “I’m
ordering pizza. You want some? We could watch bad movies and make fun of them
together.”

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Riiiight.
I’m leaving for New York tonight with Vincent. Look at what he bought for me to
wear on the plane!”

She pulls out a white satin dress and holds it
against her chest.

There’s no doubt that she’ll look beautiful in it.
She looks beautiful in everything…

“When are you coming back?”

“Monday maybe? Tuesday? It’s not like I’ll be in a
hurry. It’s New York, kid.” She
perfectly imitates a New-Yorker’s accent.

I hear the pizza operator saying “Hello” over and
over so I finish ordering the pizza, watching Leah pull out her other designer
purchases.

When I set the phone down, she motions for me to
come over.

“While I’m gone, feel free to invite your boyfriend
over,” she says. “Do you need me to get you some condoms?”

“I told you I dumped him two months ago.”

“So?” She shrugs. “You can still use him for sex.
Oh, wait. I forgot. He wasn’t good at it, right?”

“Right.”

She sighs. “I hate when that happens. I always have
to fake my way through it when the man has no idea what he’s doing. It’s a damn
shame, really.”

“My writing seminar is Monday night. Can you tell
Vincent you need to be back by then so you can make it?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She presses
her finger against my lips and sighs. “You put on too much gloss today….” She
reaches into another shopping bag and hands me a new
compact make-up case. “You should use this for your presentation on Monday.”

“Thanks.” I force a smile and listen as she starts
to show off more of her purchases, knowing damn well that she won’t be in the
audience Monday.

She’ll forget like she always does, and I’ll forgive
her like I always do. Then we’ll both end up drunk and restless on our balcony…

The
first few lines of the synopsis of told me everything I needed to know about
this book. If I was looking for hearts
and flowers I was looking in the wrong place. Well maybe at least until Carter!

WOW! What a great book! I really enjoyed the story. It was full of angst, heartache, self-discovery
and yes, love.

What
Emerald has dealt with is more than anyone should have to endure at a young
age. But when drinking, getting stoned,
using people and your body to get what you want is what you are taught is
“normal” you know no different and have no desire to change.

I
felt Emerald’s isolation and her pain.
She was left with no warning. Completely alone and abandoned by her best
friend/mom “Leah Belle”. She didn’t know
any other way to cope but to dive inside a bottle and try to drown her
pain. But what she didn’t know was at
the bottom of that bottle was her “chance.”

Up-routed
and forced to live with her grandparents attend AA meetings was probably the
best thing that could of happened to her. I enjoyed watching the gradual
changes that overtook Emerald’s demeanor and personality. She was starting to come out of her shell and
change and didn’t even realize it. She
had a little help from Carter too.

Carter….hmmmm!
I got the feeling that there was more to Carter than just good looks and
southern charm. I was more than happy to
see that I was right. I love the fact
the he asked “how” and not “why”. It
gave him just that much more credibility with me.

The
book travels many of emotions and there were a few times I got teary eyed but
Mariah Cole definitely got me at the end.
Although I applauded Emerald’s desire to stand on her own two feet it
had my heart crashing into a million pieces and had the tears flowing. But all good things come to an end
right?

I
will definitely be awaiting the second installment in this series and looking
forward to more works from this author.

~ Rating ~

~ About the Author ~

Mariah Cole is a Starbucks addict (hazelnut shots please!), New
Adult author, and an incessant daydreamer. Known for pushing the envelope,
she’s an avid reader of indie books and is always looking to chat with readers
and authors alike.